


Fly Low Carrion Crow

by nekojita



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Consent, Edgar Allan Ravens, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Raven!Neil, dark and angsty, exyordeath2k17, he protects his own, neil as nathaneil, neil is a manipulative little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 11:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12581360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: Kevin has fled Edgar Allan, leaving Nathaniel and Jean behind to bear the brunt of Riko's unstable temper. Long used to having little power and control, to using what little advantages he has, Nathaniel refuses to allow the abuses to continue - especially to allow his lover to pay the price for Kevin's cowardice or Riko's growing madness. He'll do whatever he has to do to keep the one person he cares about safe.Another contribution to the amazing ExyorDeath zine!





	Fly Low Carrion Crow

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is a bit of an... hmm, I guess on one hand you could say it's dark, at least Neil's mindset in it. But hey! It's Neil/Jean! It's sassbaguette! The boys are officially a couple in this fic!
> 
> Oh boy, triggers? Dubcon, definitely. Nothing very explicit, as always. The canon violence is for Riko.  
> *******

*******

Nathaniel knew something was coming, it had been inevitable once Kevin had left the Nest, had fled Edgar Allan. It was apparent in the long stretch of weeks where the place beside Riko stood empty, the position out on court poorly filled each subsequent game after winter break, with Riko's unheard of suspension and increasingly foul mood.

With the way he'd beaten Nathaniel and Jean the morning after he'd woken up and discovered Kevin missing, that his ‘shadow’ wasn't recovering in the medical office or locker room or elsewhere in the Nest but truly gone. Broken two of Jean's fingers and bruised Nathaniel's ribs, cut Nathaniel enough that he could barely stand from the loss of blood, beaten Jean's face so badly that the Master had cuffed his nephew on the cheek, one bruise in return for dozens.

Nathaniel wasn't going to allow the bastard another chance to hurt Jean like that again - not over Kevin, not over a coward who had fled because of the only time Riko had revealed his true feathers. Because Kevin finally got a taste of what everyone else had to suffer through if they weren't an 'heir of Exy'.

If Nathaniel was surprised by anything out of the whole mess, it was that Kevin had managed to find enough of a backbone to stay away from Edgar Allan and the Moriyamas - Nathaniel and Jean may have turned their backs that night, may have helped by distracting the other Ravens and fetched the bottle of whiskey for Riko to ensure that their 'king' passed out and Kevin could slink away, but it was so the striker could seek proper medical attention. They had expected him to return eventually, to know his place.

Guess when you weren't beaten with that reminder every day, you tended to forget that the Moriyamas owned you, now and always, Nathaniel thought with a scornful twist to his lips. When he heard the sound of footsteps on the hard surface of the Nest's black floors, he schooled his expression to one of careful blankness and resumed his latest English assignment; since he was the only Raven still in high school, he was confined to the Nest while he completed his education online. Long bored with studying in his room, he'd taken to doing the coursework in the various common areas in the Red or Black Halls since they were quiet during the 'day' with the rest of the Ravens out on campus, and sometimes the Master would have him assist with some translation requests.

Not only did Nathaniel pick up snippets of information that way, but he also overheard some of Tetsuji's phone calls or conversations with people as the man walked through the hallway. So he knew about Kevin being down in South Carolina before everyone else, he knew about David Wymack negotiating with Edgar Allan for Kevin's contract.

He knew that Riko wasn't going to be pleased when the news came out.

Jean was upset when Nathaniel told him in the dubious safety of their room when it became clear that the Master would make an announcement soon. " _He... the Foxes? What is he thinking? They're the worst team in the division_ ," Jean declared in French. " _I expected there might be news of him reuniting with his father but not this_."

" _That's the one thing I haven't heard any mention of_ ," Nathaniel remarked from his spot on Jean's bed. " _No word at all, isn't that interesting_?"

Jean gave up on his pacing to sit next to Nathaniel. " _Perhaps they're saving that for later_?"

" _Or perhaps he didn't tell the man_." Nathaniel gave his lover a sharp smile, a shadow of the one he'd always seen on his father's face. " _He's waited how long since learning the truth, what's a little longer, hmm_?"

Jean was quiet for a moment as he considered that. " _Would he - no, of course Kevin would run to the man seeking help and keep such a thing a secret_." He let out a slow breath as he shook his head. " _Wymack is known to take in the hopeless cases, after all, and trained with Kevin's mother. The fool wouldn't think twice to do everything in his power to help Kevin_."

And risk the Moriyamas' ire in return. For a moment Nathaniel wondered what it felt like to have strangers accept you, to take you in despite the danger, to be able to leave everything behind and start over again. But it wasn't anything that he and Jean would find out for themselves, not when it had been made clear to them what their defiance and disobedience would mean.

Nathaniel tried to feel happy for Kevin, to find joy in that the young man he'd grown up with had managed to escape, to break free... but he wasn't that good of a person, he supposed. Not when he and Jean had been left behind to deal with Riko, to survive the Nest as best they could with a king who grew more and more erratic and abusive each day.

But if there was one thing Nathaniel knew, it was how to take the abuse, how to stand still in the shadows and watch with head bowed and eyes mostly downcast, to anticipate the blows and circumvent them if possible. Riko was nothing like Nathan Wesninski, was a mere bully compared to the Butcher and even Nathan's people: Lola and Romero Malcom, Jackson Plank and Patrick DiMaccio. The 'king' couldn't match any of them when it came to viciousness and brutality.

He couldn't match Mary Hatford-Wesninski when it came to cleverness, either, and she had done what she could to prepare her only child once it became clear that Nathan intended to hand him over to the Moriyamas like some perverse tithe, to not waste those afternoons spent together. It had been years since Nathaniel had seen his mother, but he hadn't forgotten any of her lessons, the advice she had sometimes literally beaten into his head.

So all he did then was pull Jean in close, his hands gentle on his lover’s arms, and smile when Jean gave him a questioning look that quickly turned into one of delight and anticipation. Nathaniel pushed aside all thoughts of Kevin and Riko and anyone else but the person who made him feel safe, made him feel so good and happy as he rolled onto his back with Jean’s comforting weight on top of him, Jean’s eager mouth on his own, and gave in to the desire and need he’d only ever felt for this one precious person.

The person he’d do anything for, whom he’d protect with everything he had, because Jean was worth it. Only Jean.

When morning came, Nathaniel forced himself out of Jean's arms despite the unhappy rumble of “poussin, non.” He hesitated only for a moment to press a kiss against Jean’s forehead then went to wash off, leaving his boyfriend to enjoy a few more minutes in the warmth of the bed before another harsh day began in the Nest.

He found Mike Johnson and Brad Reacher headed to the small kitchen in the Red Hall where the rest of the Ravens went first thing in the morning for their amino acid and protein shakes or fruit smoothies to help get them through the intensive morning workouts. Johnson did a double-take at seeing Nathaniel then made a show of looking down the hall behind him, while Reacher shook his head before he spoke in a condescending tone. “Mark this day down, Moreau let you out of the room without holding your hand? I didn’t think you could go anywhere without your nanny, Nate.”

Well then, Reacher it was, Nathaniel decided, though really, number nineteen was the logical choice considering his temperament and lower ranking on the team; Reacher and Johnson were currently battling it out for the starting backliner position, a position they knew would go away once Nathaniel ‘officially’ joined the Ravens in the spring. That was, unless they somehow knocked Jean from his number four position, which was never going to happen, especially on Nathaniel’s watch.

“How observant of you, Reacher, to notice someone as tall as Jean isn’t present,” Nathaniel gasped in mock surprise. “Too bad that amazing talent didn’t help you during the game last week against Vermont when Palacio managed to keep slipping by you as if she was a ghost.”

As expected, Johnson didn’t miss the chance to wheedle his rival-partner. “If Ivanova hadn’t done such a good job of blocking the goal that half, we would’ve been in trouble. No wonder the Master pulled you from the rest of the game.”

Reacher’s face grew flushed as he shoved at the tall blond smirking at him. “Shut up! I didn’t-“

Nathaniel didn’t stick around for the rest of the argument, not when Jean would be looking for him, not when he’d done what he’d intended. Johnson’s scornful laughter and Reacher’s outraged voice followed him into the kitchen, where several Ravens ignored the noise in favor of fueling up while they could, a couple of them nodding to him in greeting.

He’d just prepared their shakes when Jean showed up, a puzzled frown on his face which cleared up once he spotted Nathaniel.

“ _Why did you leave so early_?” Jean asked in French.

“ _I had to send off a file for one of my classes_ ,” Nathaniel lied. “ _I didn’t want to forget_.”

“ _Okay_.” Jean’s fingers brushed against his as he accepted the shake but otherwise didn’t show any emotion while they drank standing side by side, and then it was off to the gym to work out under the careful eye of the Master. Nathaniel noticed how Riko was away from the others as he lifted, his expression tight and jaw clenched as he steadily increased the amount of weights, and divided his attention between the obviously annoyed striker, a simmering Reacher and an oblivious Jean.

His body sore from leg and arm workout, Nathaniel was relieved to spend a few minutes beneath the hot water in the shower, though he knew it was a futile attempt to ease the aches which had long ago settled into his muscles and bones. If he wasn’t sore from working out then it was from the time spent on the court, from the blows of other players’ racquets or their bodies slamming into him, of him being knocked into the wooden floor or the hard walls.

Of Riko’s fists and feet pounding against him, of sharp knives sliding into his skin.

Of gloved hands holding him down and teeth against his neck and shoulders and-

Nathaniel drew in a ragged breath as he shut off the water and snatched at a towel as he left, which made Jean and Sergei call out his name; he didn’t stop until he got to his locker where he dried off and began to pull on his uniform so he’d be ready for practice.

Jean was quiet as he came over a minute later, and didn’t speak until he’d pulled on a pair of black boxer-briefs. “ _Is there anything I can do_?” he asked in quiet French.

The question made Nathaniel smile despite everything as he thought of their long-running joke. “ _Fetch me the stars and the moon, why don’t you_.”

A hint of a smile tugged at Jean’s lips as he gave a slight hum. “ _I keep waiting for you to ask me something difficult, my chick_.”

It didn’t make everything better, didn’t make the pain go away… but it came close. It was Jean knowing him so well to give such an answer, Jean being there through the years, through the nightmares and the pain, being the _only_ one through it all and not just because he bore the number four, because Tetsuji had paired him with Nathaniel but that they had somehow – improbably – decided that each other was going to be the one thing that the Moriyamas didn’t take away from them.

Which was why when Riko finally joined them, dark eyes blazing with barely banked rage and muscular body taut with the emotion, Nathaniel made sure to keep himself between the striker and Jean at all times until they were out on court and Tetsuji called out the order for the first practice of the day. It was Nathaniel and Johnson with Riko, Orwell and Ivanova, Ashford, and Jean with Tarrago, Sergei, Engle, Grayson and North.

Nathaniel gave Reacher a smug look before he pulled down his face mask, then focused on practice for the next half an hour, on keeping Tarrago and Crosby from reaching the goal, on sending the ball to Riko so he could score points on North again and again. Johnson wasn’t as good as Jean, wasn’t the partner Nathaniel had spent over five years living with and playing aside and just… being there for almost all the time. But soon, just a little longer and Jean wouldn’t step out onto the court anymore without Nathaniel by his side.

The Master called a switch of players too soon, and Nathaniel’s time on the court came to an end since those who would be called up in the game the following evening had priority over him – for now. As Reacher walked past him to take Grayson’s place, Nathaniel murmured “hope you paid attention to how it’s done,” just loud enough for the sophomore to hear, and bit back on a smirk when he noticed how the other backliner’s shoulders tensed at the jab.

Once on the bench with the rest of the Ravens, he accepted a water from Audrey Neilson with a thankful nod and watched on with a sense of anticipation as his mother’s voice whispered in his head. She’d warned him that it was stupid to fight a battle head-on if he was outnumbered and overpowered, that things like ‘honor’ and ‘fairness’ were nothing but bullshit and lies. If he wanted to win then he had to be clever, he had to take the time to think, to know what his advantages were and to use them wisely. To accept the pain and humiliation because then the enemy thought he was beaten, would overlook him, while he regrouped and came back stronger.

Nathaniel had swallowed a lot of pain and humiliation over the years, but he knew the Moriyamas and the Ravens so very, very well. Knew that all they saw was little ‘Nate’, was Jean’s shadow and Ichirou’s whore, the kid who would one day be part of the Perfect Court. As such, he was either despised or pitied or fawned upon, but rarely did anyone bother to look beyond the surface.

He was fine with that, since the Ravens stared on in growing confusion and horror as Reacher played with increasing aggression on the court, as he challenged Riko and did his best to block their ‘king’ from scoring a point.

Not that Reacher fared well, not against someone of Riko’s caliber, but he still tried. The idiot probably thought that he was redeeming himself from last week’s game, that he was proving his mettle… and he only enraged an already infuriated Riko even more – just as Nathaniel had planned.

“What is he doing?” Neilson asked, mindful to pitch her voice low even as she gazed out onto the court as if looking upon a train wreck. “That’s… fuck.” She winced when Riko slammed Reacher into the wall and kept going with the ball, and all the while Tetsuji watched on with a blank expression.

Nathaniel did, too, and sipped his water until it was gone. The Ravens grew quiet until Tetsuji called an end to the ‘game’ and swapped out more players, with Riko going to stand beside his uncle radiating pure fury and a silent Jean sitting beside Nathaniel.

Practices were often tense at the Nest, were matters of proving oneself to the Master and moving up to a starting position, but everyone was anxious as Tetsuji called them together to go over the skirmishes and reveal needed improvements before releasing them for breakfast and their morning classes. They waited for Riko to head into the showers first, unwilling to be the one to catch his attention – to catch his ire.

Nathaniel went first, certain that it wouldn’t be him or Jean who caught that explosive temper for once, not when it had been primed for someone else. He was proven right when Reacher entered the room with its black walls and black metal lockers, only to be grabbed by Riko before he barely took a few steps.

“What were you thinking?” Riko demanded as he slammed the backliner into the row of lockers despite the fact that Reacher had several inches on him and about twenty pounds. “Do you think a nobody like you is better than me?”

The rest of the Ravens scattered away from their ‘king’ and his latest victim, while Nathaniel tugged a blank-faced Jean toward the showers. “ _Come on, you can’t do anything_ ,” he urged his boyfriend.

Jean hesitated only for a moment before giving Nathaniel an appraising look, and then was quick to shed his uniform so they could wash off – wash the dried sweat from bodies which bore enough scars from Riko’s past ‘moods’ to know that it was foolish to get in the bastard’s way. That no one would intervene if it was them in Reacher’s position, no one but each other and then Riko would just make them hurt even more.

Reacher’s cries echoed through the locker room when they finally left, dressed in black pants and black t-shirts with red ravens on them. Jean waited until they had a small table to themselves in the private cafeteria for the team and trays filled with their first real meal of the day, of oatmeal with fruit and Darjeeling tea for Nathaniel, and some hard boiled eggs with thick sliced toast and a café au lait for Jean. “ _Why_?” Jean asked as he gazed at Nathaniel through thick dark eyelashes, his grey eyes troubled and expression solemn. “ _Why, Nat_?”

Nathaniel gave a slight shrug as he stirred the sliced strawberries and blueberries into his oatmeal. “ _Tonight the Master will announce releasing Kevin from his contract_.” He didn’t risk saying anything more than that, just glanced at the table where Riko normally sat with Kevin – before Kevin had run away and when Riko wasn’t battering some Raven into the lockers.

Jean didn’t need it explained to him beyond that, didn’t need to know that if Riko wasn’t breaking Reacher just then, he’d be breaking someone else as a way to ‘vent’ his unhappiness. Judging from how he glanced at the just healed fingers of his left hand, he knew who that ‘someone else’ might be, so the topic was dropped as they finished their meal and Jean went off to his classes and Nathaniel to their room to collect his laptop so he could log online for his coursework.

Riko was more… well, ‘composed’ wasn’t the proper word for it, more like ‘reined in’ when it came time for the afternoon practice; Tetsuji must have spoken to his nephew, had decided that one Raven rendered unable to play was enough, considering that they had an upcoming game with Penn State tomorrow. Riko was sullen and slammed into everyone with unnecessary force, but they made it out of the locker room without bloodshed, then and after evening practice.

Word must have gotten around that there was going to be some sort of announcement about Kevin Day, because the Red Hall was eerily quiet in the evening; the common rooms were empty as were the kitchens. No one wanted to be around if Riko was about to be set off again, so Nathaniel and Jean retreated to their room and attempted to lose themselves in their homework but took more comfort from being next to each other on the same bed, Nathaniel stretched out along Jean’s left side with his head on his boyfriend’s chest as he more or less read about the American Civil War while Jean’s fingers combed through his hair.

There was always an electric current to the Nest during a game day, doubly so for a home game. Nathaniel felt like a ghost on those days, wandering around hallways that were a part of him but where he didn’t quite belong, not entirely, not until next season when the three tattooed on his left cheek wasn’t just a placeholder but him tossing a gauntlet down to the rest of Exy world. When he would stand by Jean’s side and hold back anyone the court would throw at them.

Until then, he would feel out of place and overshadowed by the other Ravens, by the ones who would go out on court that evening if only to spend most of it sitting on a bench. _They_ would be on court, at least, while he would be up in the East Tower.

Workouts and practices were modified for game days, were adjusted to ensure that the Ravens were in peak condition to play but didn’t over-exert themselves. The Master kept a close eye on them during the morning practice, a quick set of scrimmages designed to loosen them up for the game and to go over any last minute strategy changes as well as to give Tetsuji a final chance to review the starting line-up, so it wasn’t often that Nathaniel joined in unless the Master wanted to play him off someone – usually one of their strikers. That time it was Cory Jenkins, who was doing her best to fill Kevin’s spot on the starting line-up without antagonizing Riko.

She was good, was fast and had great aim, but she wasn’t Kevin. No one was Kevin, not even Riko, but Jenkins snarled at Nathaniel and shoved him around without being too much of a bitch, so Nathaniel didn’t knock her kidneys up into her throat with his racquet. After about twenty minutes of her cursing him out and Nathaniel giving her a smile while he got in her face time and time again, the Master called a stop to things.

“Enough,” he told them as he motioned for all of them to join him over by the entrance of the tunnel leading off the court. “I’ve seen enough. Starting line-up tonight will be Moriyama, Jenkins, Moreau, Johnson, Petrovich-“

Nathaniel gave Jean a smile as he leaned against his lover, pleased for him even though there hadn’t been any doubt that Jean would be on the starting line-up. Riko, who was standing only a couple of feet away, caught sight of that and glared at the two of them – glared as he stood off by himself, the only Raven beside Johnson who wasn’t paired up at the moment.

Who wasn’t paired up because he’d driven away the person who had always been by his side.

Nathaniel leaned a little more against a suddenly tense Jean while Riko’s dark eyes narrowed, and waited until Tetsuji dismissed them to run several laps before they went to the showers. He made sure to move ahead of Jean so when Riko lashed out, the bastard’s fist caught _him_ on the right side of the face, across his cheek and the side of his nose.

Riko had just grabbed him by the front of his black and red jersey to yank him forward when the Master’s voice rang out in Japanese, low and demanding. “ _Let him go, Riko_.”

The hands clenched in Nathaniel’s jersey tightened but didn’t pull him any closer. “ _But Uncle, he_ -“

“ _Let him go_.” A rare hint of anger crept into Tetsuji’s voice as he approached Riko and Nathaniel, as everyone but Jean backed away. “ _He’s not yours today_.”

Nathaniel wanted to laugh but bit down on his tongue; of course Tetsuji wasn’t stepping in to keep one of his players from harm, to finally put a stop to his psychotic nephew’s abuse. Oh no, Riko beating the shit out of everyone else was fine and dandy… except when it came to messing up something Ichirou wanted to play with that day.

Hate, potent and acidic, bubbled up inside of Nathaniel, but he forced himself to swallow it, to hide it away as Riko shoved him aside. Jean caught him before he could stumble more than a moment or two, and after a concerned look from him Nathaniel forced a slight smile on his lips and motioned that they should start running.

The Master took Riko away once they were done with the laps, which was fine with Nathaniel since it meant he didn’t have to worry about Jean; it was clear that Tetsuji wasn’t leaving anything to chance with outsiders soon arriving on campus, outsiders and the main branch. As for Nathaniel, he pulled Jean close for a brief kiss when they had a moment’s privacy before he went to shower and change, then made his way to the East Tower to wait for Ichirou.

He spent a couple of hours looking down on Evermore from above as it was prepared for the game, as fans started to trickle in. Then people started to arrive in the tower, the armed guards who pre-checked the rooms for their employers, the men (almost never women) with the expensive suits and dead eyes.

Nathaniel’s official task of the night was to translate for these men. Officially. He was already registered at Edgar Allen for the upcoming fall as a language major; once Tetsuji had noticed how quickly he’d picked up Japanese and French, he’d also learned Russian and Spanish at the man’s insistence and served as a translator at many of the business meetings held in the East Tower. That was how he’d originally caught Ichirou’s eye. Originally.

That evening went much the way as the others, with Nathaniel keeping out of the way until Ichirou arrived dressed in an elegant black suit with a dark grey shirt beneath. Despite being the youngest person in the room (other than Nathaniel), he commanded everyone’s presence and set the agenda for the night. Once everyone had their drinks, he beckoned Nathaniel over from his spot near the windows to stand behind Ichiro’s left shoulder and they began to discuss a new distribution route for drugs which were being smuggled into the country through cargo ships. As the languages switched between Spanish, Japanese and Russian, Nathaniel ensured that nothing was lost in translation. (He also made sure to show no emotion when a complaint was brought up about the East Coast and the Butcher being stuck in prison, followed by Ichirou’s assurance that the East Coast was ‘under control’).

No one seemed concerned that Ichirou was handling so many important matters for his father Kengo, that the senior Moriyama hadn’t been to one of the meeting for months. If anything, Nathaniel thought that the other crime lords preferred dealing with Ichirou, who was efficient yet knowledgeable, willing to be flexible for the sake of adaptation but never weak.

It was only through the roar of the crowd and the bursts of the Ravens’ team song that allowed Nathaniel to know that his team was winning, he was so busy with translating; his throat was dry and head ached from switching through the various languages when the meeting finally wrapped up. He watched as the men slowly bowed their heads to Ichirou then left the room, until it was just him, Ichirou and one of Ichirou’s bodyguards.

“Reggie, go deliver the documents to my uncle,” Ichirou instructed the man, who appeared to be in his late twenties or so, possessing a little less than average height but a muscular build.

“Yes, sir,” the man told him with a respectful nod, his British accent familiar to Nathaniel – the same as his mother’s. Yet Nathaniel didn’t react or let his gaze linger on ‘Reggie’, didn’t let any recognition show since he kept his focus on Ichirou.

As soon as they were alone, Ichirou gave an elegant flick of his gloved left hand to motion for Nathaniel to come closer; he knelt on the carpeted floor between the Japanese man’s legs, long familiar with what to do after the last couple of years. He rested his hands on top of Ichirou’s knees and allowed Ichirou to tilt up his chin with the man’s gloved right hand. “That’s new, and it doesn’t look like something one would get from playing that game of yours. Explain.” Ichirou didn’t sound concerned, only mildly curious – if anything, he was upset at someone marring his doll for the night.

“I got in the way of Riko’s fist, my lord,” Nathaniel said, careful to keep his voice even; not too blank and it would sound as if he was hiding something, not too bitter and Ichirou would wave aside the encounter. No, let it come out as what it was, an everyday event due to Riko being a psychopath.

“Ah, how careless of you.” Ichirou’s fingers tightened on Nathaniel’s chin for a moment. “Why did you do that?”

Nathaniel gave a slight shrug and allowed a little bit of frustration to show. “No reason, really.” He attempted to shake his head as if to end the discussion, then let out a breath when Ichirou’s fingers tightened even more. “Riko,” it was never ‘your brother’ with Ichirou, “has… a bit of a temper, my lord,” he said with evident reluctance. “I fared better than Reacher.” At Ichirou’s blank look, Nathaniel twitched the fingers of his left hand toward the court beneath them. “One of the Ravens. It appears he displeased Riko greatly.”

“I see,” Ichirou said, and Nathaniel stilled as those fingers bit into his jaw hard enough to make _him_ wince, as Ichirou’s eyes took on a flat cast for a few seconds. While Riko didn’t inspire any true fear out of Nathaniel, Ichirou did – because _this_ Moriyama had power. Nathaniel had overheard enough, had an idea of why Kengo hadn’t been seen at Evermore in months, and knew it was only a matter of time when Ichirou was indeed ‘Lord Ichirou’.

When he could do something about all the bits of information Nathaniel had fed him about Riko harming the Ravens, about being unstable, about what had really happened to Kevin Day. About how Tetsuji could barely control his nephew, how that leash grew weaker with each passing year.

Nathaniel wasn’t foolish enough to think that Ichirou gave a damn about him other than as a useful tool to use, but Ichirou wasn’t a fool, and Ichirou didn’t tolerate threats against the family.

The more Riko shone as the ‘king’ of Exy, the more risk he drew to the family with his psychotic behavior. It would only get worse the longer Kevin ‘defied’ Riko, to the point where Nathaniel might not have to do much at all but sit and wait for Ichirou to finally decide enough was enough.

Ichirou’s right thumb rubbed against Nathaniel’s bruised cheek once as he gazed down at him with a thoughtful expression, and then he let go of Nathaniel’s chin. “I have a flight soon,” he announced as he slid his fingers into Nathaniel’s hair, his intent clear.

“Yes, my lord,” Nathaniel murmured as he reached for the zipper of Ichirou’s dress pants, relieved that it would be an ‘easy’ night for him. Soon enough he’d be back in his room with Jean, could hold his boyfriend close and forget all about this for another couple of weeks.

Could remember why all of this mattered.

Then Nathaniel pushed all thoughts of Jean from his mind as he leaned forward with Ichirou’s fingers clenched tight in his hair as if to remind him of his place, of how he’d never be given a chance to slip free.

Nathaniel didn’t need any reminder, not when he’d walk out of the East Tower with the marks of Ichirou’s fingers on his jaw and the taste of the man making him want to gag, but it was worth it if he was that much closer to knocking Riko from his throne, to making all those planted seeds of doubt about the youngest Moriyama flourish.

Nathaniel felt his father’s smile tug at his lips before he parted them to wrap around Ichirou’s cock.

*******

**Author's Note:**

> *******  
> So who wants a sequel of THIS???? Yeah, I'll be surprised if there's any requests for it...
> 
> I'm not going to say that Ichirou is a complete bastard here (a good bit because Neil is young and too much power imbalance), but Neil's not in a place to say 'no' - and to be honest? I'm not sure Neil would really say 'no' because he wouldn't want to risk anything to hurt Jean. Which is NOT the same as saying 'yes' so it's NOT consent. We won't go into it more than that.
> 
> And Kevin really gets beaten up in these Raven!Neil pov's, doesn't he? Poor boy....
> 
> Uhm... the next two weeks are shaping up to be way too busy (DAMN YOU WORK), so I think the final ExyorDeath fic might be a Sunday post. But that's like... 30 word pages?
> 
> And Happy Halloween!
> 
> As always, the comments and kudos and [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/nekojitachan) are greatly appreciated.  
> 


End file.
